Insight Report | January 30, 2020 Premium Beauty Insights: How Brands and Retailers Are Deploying Customization and Personalization TechnologiesWe explore how beauty brands are leveraging technology to enhance their offerings. Some of the more interesting developments include smart devices with increased functionality and tools to boost consumer engagement with the brand. Read More
Insight Report | January 29, 2020 Premium December 2019 Monthly Consumer Update: US, UK and ChinaThis month’s economic data from China, the US and the UK was largely positive, although higher gasoline prices in the US pushed up the CPI. But, we still saw strong growth in US retail sales, despite consumers having to spend more on gasoline. Read More
Flash Report | January 17, 2020 Register for Free Access Gap Scraps Old Navy Spin-Off; Moderately Raises Its Fiscal 2019 OutlookOn January 16, Gap Inc. announced that it had canceled its plans to spin off the Old Navy business, citing investors’ concerns over the complexity of the separation and softer business performance of the brand. Gap Inc. has raised its fiscal year 2019 outlook moderately, owing to better-than-expected promotional levels over the holiday period. Read More
Insight Report | December 26, 2019 Premium November 2019 Monthly Consumer Update: US, UK and ChinaUS, UK and China consumer data shows a mixed bag in prices, wage growth and consumer spending. This report captures the big picture and what it means for retail as we head into the new year. Read More
Insight Report | December 17, 2019 Premium US Retail Traffic and In-Store Metrics, November 2019: Traffic Decline Steepens Slightly but Black Friday PerformsUS store traffic fell at a faster rate in November than in October. Black Friday outperformed November overall and accounted for the largest portion of traffic during the month but traffic was still down over last year. Read More
Deep Dive | December 17, 2019 Premium 3Q19 US Earnings Season Wrap-UpThird-quarter 2019 retail earnings show mixed results across categories. Our coverage of the Coresight 100 reveal most companies beat consensus, but there were sectors that fared much better than others—and luxury was one that did not meet expectations despite recent recovery. Read More
Insight Report | December 12, 2019 Premium November 2019 US Same-Store Sales: Costco Comp Growth SlowsNovember same-store sales hit by late Thanksgiving that pushed Cyber Monday into December. Costco, Cato and Buckle all reported slowing same-store and in particular online sales growth in November, much attributable to Cyber Monday moving into the following month. Read More
Insight Report | December 10, 2019 Premium Beauty Insights: What Beauty Retailers Are Offering for the 2019 Holiday Shopping SeasonThe US beauty sector is expected to see strong sales this holiday season, with consumers indicating that beauty and personal care items will be popular as gifts. We assess the key strategies that major beauty brands and retailers—such as Macy’s, Sephora and Ulta Beauty—are implementing to capitalize on this opportunity. Read More
Insight Report | December 4, 2019 Premium Ulta Beauty: A Timeline of Key EventsUlta Beauty timeline: How a mass-market beauty retailer upped its game by moving into more high-end products, carrying digital native and DTC products – and bolstering its loyalty program. Read More
Insight Report | November 27, 2019 Premium October 2019 Monthly Consumer Update: US, UK and ChinaMacro economic indicators from the US, UK and China all seem to point to positive – but growth seems unsteady and although positive there remain areas of concern. This report captures the big picture and what it means for retail as we head into the holidays. Read More
Insight Report | November 25, 2019 Premium Ulta Beauty vs. Sephora: Assessing Loyalty Reward Programs and the Buying Behaviors of Beauty ShoppersWe discuss the success of two dominant US retail chains, Ulta Beauty and Sephora, with a focus on the nature and impact of each retailer’s loyalty program as well as their employment of artificial intelligence and data analytics to drive customer engagement. We also compare the shopping behaviors of Ulta’s and Sephora’s customers using survey data. Read More
Insight Report | November 18, 2019 Premium US Retail Traffic and In-Store Metrics, October 2019: Traffic Decline Eases SlightlyOctober US retail traffic and in-store metrics were a mixed bag, with fluctuations week by week and across regions. Read More
Insight Report | November 7, 2019 Premium Beauty Insights: Brands and Retailers See Strong Growth in Travel RetailThe global travel retail market has witnessed robust growth over the past few years, in part due to the increasing number of Chinese travelers. Beauty brands are now implementing strategies to further increase product sales at airports and other duty-free stores. Read More
Insight Report | October 30, 2019 Premium September 2019 Monthly Consumer Update: US, UK and ChinaEach month, we analyze key metrics that reflect consumer demand in the US, the UK and China. In these updates, we focus on direct, leading indicators of the health of the consumer economy: wage growth, price changes and retail sales growth. Read More
Insight Report | October 18, 2019 Premium September 2019 US Monthly Retail Traffic and In-Store Metrics: Traffic Decline SteepensUS store traffic and average transaction value fell in September while the conversion rate climbed, with wide regional variations. Read More
